PRESIDENTIAL PROMISE
Mayor Rahm Emanuel and wife, Amy Rule, spotted at Park West last night attending country rock singer Lucinda Williams’ performance for the 8th time
Sneed has learned that former President Barack Obama privately promised Cook County Circuit Court Chief Judge Timothy Evans a trip to Chicago next year to visit the kids housed at the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center.
“We talked a lot about his commitment to the children of the world,” Evans said.
“And he promised him and Michelle both will come here as part of his pledge,” added Evans, who tells Sneed he raised the subject to the former president because he echoes the same concern.
“There are approximately 230 young people ranging in ages from 12 to 18 housed at the JTDC center primarily for delinquent offenses at 1100 S. Hamilton Ave. right now,” Evans said.
“He [ Obama] kept emphasizing that these are just the kind of young people who needed all the help they could get,” he added. “He said they were the kids who needed mentors and encouragement; that so many who have gotten in trouble do not get help that way. And that so many do not get proper assistance from mothers or dads or relatives.’”
Both men chatted shortly before Obama fulfilled his jury duty obligation Wednesday amid a throng of well- wishers armed with books, magazines and bits of paper to sign. Evans said Obama’s jury panel wasn’t selected.
Backshot: Obama commented on how “gray” they had both become and praised Evans on his role as one of Mayor Harold Washington’s floor leaders “and my role as Mayor Washington’s political colleague,” Evans said.
“If I’m not mistaken, we are soon coming up on the 30th anniversary of Mayor Washington’s passing,” he added.
Chance encounters . . .
Chance the Rapper’s stunning appearance at City Hall on Wednesday netted this six degrees of separation tip.
To wit: Ald. Walter Burnett privately pointed out that Chance and his brother Taylor both attended Mark T. Skinner West Elementary School on the West Side with his son, Walter, and Ald. Edward Burke’s son, Travis.
And we will leave it at that.
Where’s Hillary?
It was like old home week for former staffers attending a retrospective Monday at Georgetown University marking the 25th anniversary of Bill Clinton’s presidential election.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Clinton strategist John Podesta were there among dozens of others hugging and high- fiving.
But among the missing was a biggie.
“I didn’t see her,” said a top Sneed source referring to former first lady Hillary Clinton, who has been on the road with a broken toe pushing her memoir “What Happened?”
Music memos . . .
Singer Bonnie Koloc, once the legend of Old Town during its heyday of the 1960s-’ 70s, is performing in a sold- out concert at Space in Evanston on Nov. 19. Opening is fellow Earl of Old Town favorite Eddie Holstein.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his wife, Amy Rule, spotted at Park West last night attending country rock singer Lucinda “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road” Williams’ performance for the eighth time. “We have a deal,” chirped the mayor. “Live music every three or four weeks.”
Sneed is told Rule has been to Bruce Springsteen’s concerts at least 10 times.
Sneedlings . . .
Today’s birthdays: French Montana, 33; Alessandro Del Piero, 43; and Nick Lachey, 44.